To all male frag experts? is there something to worry about?

Hello everyone! as u can see I'm new here...this is my first post. I've chosen to post this in the MALE FRAGRANCE DISCUSSION section because it seems to have the most followers. Sorry for my lenghty thread. So straight to my problem:
I own a fragrance n jewellery store in Ghana...I sell almost all the good n expensive fragrances u can think of. about a week ago, there was a massive fire outbreak in the building my store is located. it affected my store as well, so I lost so many things. it took about 2 hours for our fire service to completely put out the fire.
However I did recover some of my stuff....and I was lucky enough to realise the fire didn't affect my fragrance department that much. only those closest to the fire were destroyed. The rest remained intact on their shelves.
My question is whether my fragrances are fine and safe....or is there any possibility that the intense heat caused by the fire could have altered the state of my fragrances. They're all new n sealed n I wouldn't want to open them since they are for sale. I dont use testers as well.
I'm really worried....I've already lost a huge sum of money...and it cost me a great fortune to ship these thousands of fragrances to Ghana. so I want to know if the frags are fine and I can continue selling them when the store is reopened. thanks to all who read my post.

Re: To all male frag experts? is there something to worry about?

I'm sorry to hear about your tragedy. It is possible for heat to damage the chemical composition of a fragrance as some molecules may be susceptible. In most cases, unfortunately, the damage may not be visible but only detectable to the nose. On the other hand, for the heat to be severe enough to cause damage, one would expect to see significant harm to the packaging as well: melting of the plastic wrapping, singed cardboard of the boxes, etc. If the outer packaging is not at all affected, there is a good chance the fragrance within may have survived undamaged. I don't know any completely reliable way to know for sure other than opening some and sniffing them, and I can understand wanting to avoid sacrificing more merchandise. Good luck.

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I'm sorry to hear about your tragedy. It is possible for heat to damage the chemical composition of a fragrance as some molecules may be susceptible. In most cases, unfortunately, the damage may not be visible but only detectable to the nose. On the other hand, for the heat to be severe enough to cause damage, one would expect to see significant harm to the packaging as well: melting of the plastic wrapping, singed cardboard of the boxes, etc. If the outer packaging is not at all affected, there is a good chance the fragrance within may have survived undamaged. I don't know any completely reliable way to know for sure other than opening some and sniffing them, and I can understand wanting to avoid sacrificing more merchandise. Good luck.

Re: To all male frag experts? is there something to worry about?

I believe those frags may have survived better than you think. Before they hit the store shelves frags can be subjected to more heat than people would like to believe... traveling in hot tractor trailer trucks in the dead of summer, storage in hot warehouses and stockrooms, etc., etc. I can guarantee that in some of the tropical and subtropical places in the world, alot of frags are subjected to some pretty extreme conditions before they are eventually sold. Much of the world does not have air conditioning as commonly as we in the west do.
I would take a couple different ones that you think may have been subjected to some of the worst heat, open 'em up, and compare the scent to a couple identical frags (maybe something you or a friend/relative owns) that has been stored normally.
I suspect your stock may be OK, or at least reasonably OK. And I hope for that. Sorry about the fire, dude.

Re: To all male frag experts? is there something to worry about?

Looks like someone removed their post. Anyway I thought they were right when they mentioned that if the sellophane on the boxes had not been affected then the scents may well be fine.
Impossible for someone to say really though.
Hope it turns out OK for you..

Re: To all male frag experts? is there something to worry about?

thanks for your reply...theres probably was a mix up when I submitted this post. it was submitted twice...so there's been a few replies to the other post including the particular reply u were referring to.

Re: To all male frag experts? is there something to worry about?

You're bound to get enough online responses to your question revolving around this unfortunate event, however, perhaps you should contact the manufacturer(s).

I have no knowledge of business practices, etc. in Ghana... I only know about my surrounds, and even then, I do not know local law, regulations re such an issue had it been local to me. As a consumer, however, I'd expect whatever is being marketed to be fit for its intended use, as the manufacturer intended. There is a morality issue here.

Consider a scenario: I visit Ghana in the future and go into your newly re-furbished store; I buy one of the fragrances that survived; I think it is 'off' and am not happy; I revisit your store and am told about the fire, etc.; I ask why you thought the colognes were still good and you say because "you asked around, including online fragrance forums". I would want my money back and, once in hand, would leave your store immediately. Maybe I'd chalk it up to the local culture etc., but by my standards I'd say that I'd escaped a dishonest transaction. Having neither disclosed the possible fire/smoke damage nor happy with the level of diligence in determining whether the product was still fit, I'd be upset and would never consider doing business in your shop again.

Perhaps you might want to take the high road. If it's worth it to you, contact the manufacturer(s). Unless there is some type of Consumer Reports / United Labs type of outfit that does heat/light tests on fragrances of which I'm not aware, the manufacturers would be in the best position to speak as to its specific product durability. Perhaps you consider selling the fragrances at a discount, a real fire sale if you will, with full disclosure and sold 'as-is'? Insurance would cover damages, no? If you were not adequately insured, then either you or your customers will pay for the loss. A morality play indeed.

Re: To all male frag experts? is there something to worry about?

Your fragrances are fine.

What docluv45 said is the most sensible response in this thread. If the heat had been severe enough to chemically alter the juice inside of the bottles it would have certainly melted the thin plastic wrapping on the outside of the box--that stuff melts quickly and easily.

Just to be safe, test a few that you think received the most exposure to heat and compare them to the same fragrance from a department store. But I think you'll discover that they're fine.

Re: To all male frag experts? is there something to worry about?

@ DuNezDeBuzier ... I really do get what you mean. But if I have every reason to beleive and confirm my fragrances have been altered, I won't sell even one of them to a customer. I will never ever put my reputation at stake. But then again, as most have said...noses will have to do the judging..I'd have to be sure before proceeding with what next to do. thank u.
@ Buysblind ....thank u so much, I've remained hopeful because of replies like urs. fingers crossed....hopefully everything will be fine.

Re: To all male frag experts? is there something to worry about?

Originally Posted by Buysblind

Your fragrances are fine.

What docluv45 said is the most sensible response in this thread. If the heat had been severe enough to chemically alter the juice inside of the bottles it would have certainly melted the thin plastic wrapping on the outside of the box--that stuff melts quickly and easily.

Just to be safe, test a few that you think received the most exposure to heat and compare them to the same fragrance from a department store. But I think you'll discover that they're fine.

Sorry about the fire!

I agree with this. Frags are often exposed to high temperatures, FOR MUCH LONGER PERIODS OF TIME, in shipping etc. You know how hot it gets inside a car in the summer in the sun? Same thing happens in a shipping truck. Most aren't refrigerated, and don't A/C the cargo hold, as far as I'm aware.

If they were exposed to enough heat to damage them in that short period of time, that flimsy fragile plastic would most certainly be melted. It does NOT take much (to illustrate this point: I used to regularly melt plastic gloves to my hands reaching into the toaster oven when I worked at Subway. It terrified my customers, but it did not once injure me. It took a very short amount of time at a not terribly unreasonable temperature to melt the thin plastic of those gloves.)

As a compromise you COULD separate the ones that were exposed to the heat of the fire and sell them at a discount with full disclosure. I'm guessing a lot of people would buy them. I would (after looking carefully at the packaging and seeing that thin plastic undamaged ).

It sucks to hear about the loss of your merchandise...I hope you get things straightened out and are back in business soon!

Re: To all male frag experts? is there something to worry about?

Just to supply some testimonial. From one particular online company that I regularly receive fragrance orders from in summer the bottles and packaging usually arrive hot to the touch. The bottles especially so. However to my knowledge this has never caused a problem.

Re: To all male frag experts? is there something to worry about?

Most perfume collectors generally store perfumes in a coolish,stable temperature, and away from sunlight. My understanding of perfume is that light or heat can cause an undesireable change to the fragrance. I extend my best wishes to you, and hope that your stock is unaffected.

I'm the op...I did not double post. im sure there was a mix-up. I posted once and I decided to edit the title...after doing so I realised there had been a double post. Can't really blame the site cos I know these things happen.

Thanks for figuring this out, bro. But I do stand by my other comments about problems with this site. The things I mentioned have all happened to me *multiple* times, including another double-posting today which I had to edit to fix. And I can't bother writing reviews anymore because they don't seem to get published.
But don't get me wrong... I still love this site.